|
Day: |
001 |
|
Date: |
Friday, 25 March 2016 |
|
Start: |
Dublin |
|
Finish: |
Knockree Hostel |
|
Daily
Kilometres: |
32 |
|
Total
Kilometres: |
32 |
|
Weather: |
Cool, sunny and very windy at high
altitudes |
|
Accommodation: |
Knockree Youth Hostel |
|
Nutrition: |
Breakfast: Full Irish Breakfast
Lunch: Muesli Bars and Chocolate
Dinner: Pasta
Carbonara and Chocolate |
|
Aches: |
Right heel quite sore and generally very
tired |
|
Highlight: |
Sunshine most of the day with great views |
|
Lowlight: |
Missing the last turn to Knockree Hostel
and walking 2km extra at the end of a tiring day. |
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Pictures: |
Here |
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GPS Track: |
Here |
|
Journal: |
I was told that breakfast would be served
from 7:00am at my (very nice and good value) hotel, but when I
arrived at 7:10 I was told it would take a while to fire everything
up and it was after 8:00am before I finished eating and 8:30am
before I checked out and headed south across Dublin.
I was
quite apprehensive about how the day would go, primarily because of
a chronic bad right heel injury sustained from running a couple of
years ago. It might seem silly to travel to Ireland and embark
on a 2,500+ kilometre hike not having hiked a single day in my boots
since sustaining the injury, but I'm a "glass half full" person.
It's also three years since my last long hike (and I'm now 65) and
the body is not what it used to be.
My pack felt quite heavy
early on and before long I was plotting what I could get rid of to
lighten my load. However, I know that the first week will be
hard as my body adjusts to hiking with a load each day, and I will
postpone any action on discards.
I decided that I needed to
focus on what I was here for and enjoyed watching preparations for
the centenary celebrations of the Dublin Easter Rising around the
GPO, one of the places occupied by the rebels. There were
flags and posters everywhere in Dublin celebrating the Irish fight
for independence, and I even stumbled across a small reenactment
group, dressed as rebels and singing, arcapella (sp?), a
revolutionary song (I presume).
After half an hour, I left
the city behind and headed south across the suburbs, including
Rathfarnham where some of my forebears apparently lived. There
were plenty of runners out and it was good to hear some Irish
voices. Yesterday, when I spent several hours wandering around
the inner city, it seemed that everybody was a foreigner, including
me. Plenty of up-market stores doing a brisk business.
I had had enough of the suburbs by the time I reached Marlay Park
and the Wicklow Way trailhead, 2.5 hours after leaving the hotel.
The Park was busy with families, walkers and runners enjoying the
sunny holiday, but by this time I was looking forward to a little
more solitude and was happy to leave the park and begin the steady
climb along a narrow and quite busy country lane. I am
expecting a lot of narrow lanes and traffic in my future, and this
was my first taste. It passed without incident and soon I was
on a forest road through a pine plantation and feeling good, though
tired.
For the rest of the day the Wicklow Way passed through
a mix of forest and open moorland, with the occasional road walk.
There were great views in all directions, though it was very windy
in parts with my pack acting like a sail and occasionally making it
hard to stay on the trail. It was still quite busy, but as the
day wore on the crowds died. At one road crossing I met four day
hikers my age, enjoying a Guiness at the end of their day.
They wanted to know all about my trip and said that there was no way
I could get around Ireland without drinking Guiness, or nobody would
talk to me.
After a minor navigational error, I reached the
Knockree Hostel soon after 5:00pm and checked in. It is
supposed to be booked out, but the dormitory I was assigned to still
had plenty of unclaimed beds. I knew that dinner was not
available at the hostel so I had brought some easy-cook pasta with
me which I ate in the noisy dining room. Lots of families and
groups here, many of them driving here and staying for the long
weekend.
No phone reception, so not sure when I'll get this
posted to the web. My bad heel is quite sore :( |
|
ADVENTURE LIST
Round Ireland
(2016)
Hume & Hovell Walking Track
(2013)
Via Alpina
(2012)
Australian Alps Walking
Track
(2011)
Land's End to John O'Groats
(2010)
Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2009)
Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2008)
Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2007)
Australia Tip to Top MTB
(2006)
Adelaide to Darwin MTB
(2005)
Sydney to Melbourne MTB
(2004)
Three Peaks Race
(2004)
Appalachian Trail
(1986)
Alpine Track
(1983)
|
